1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to initiation of telephone calls from a client device connected to a network.
2. Description of Related Art
A graphical user interface or GUI is a graphical representation or presentation of information. Various options that provide a computer user with the ability to manipulate information and data may be presented in a GUI that may consist of a window or menu. For example, customer information such as a customer name, contact name, address, and zip code may be presented to a user in a visually appealing manner such that the words “Customer Name” appear next to a text field box with a space for a name, the words “Contact Name” appear next to a text field box with a space for a name, the word “Address” appears next to a text field box with a space for an address, and the words “Zip Code” appear next to a text field box with a space for a zip code. The field names (i.e., customer name, contact name, address, and zip code) may be displayed in a specific font or color with the text field boxes (or the information in the text field boxes) in the same or different font or color. Thus, the GUI provides for the display and receipt of information.
Commonly, a GUI representation of information is displayed in a window with several standard components that are displayed regardless of the type, style, or content of the information to be displayed by the GUI. The top of the window may have a title bar for which a title may be specified. Below the title bar may be a menu bar. The menu bar may be associated with various capabilities. The menu bar may have various submenus. Each submenu may be a menu itself or a command that can be selected by the user.
A “web browser” is an application program used for viewing files and navigating through linked files communicated over the Internet. Example web browsers include Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. The web files may include hyperlinks which, when activated by the user cause a corresponding web page to be displayed. Hyperlinks may also cause other events, such as the launching of programs or routines (e.g., causing an email program to open a blank email message with a specified “to” address). The web files may be communicated over the Internet using the hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP). The web files may be in the hyper-text markup language (HTML) format.
Efforts have been made in integrating the Web with telephony applications. One such popular application is the placing of telephone calls from a personal computer to a regular telephone. A user can place a call to a regular telephone from the web using Dialpad from Dialpad Communications, Inc. or Net2Phone from Net2Phone, Inc. In these and similar applications, to initiate a call a user must manually enter a telephone number or pick a telephone number from a structured list stored by and only available from the dialing application.
Some companies, in conjunction with their sales and customer service efforts, have added a “call me” or “call-back” function to their web sites. With these functions, a user who browses to the company's web site may then manually enter the user's telephone number and other information into a web page. The company's computers direct the customer service request to a customer service agent and initiate a telephone call to the user.